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Super Typhoon Haiyan, also referred to as Typhoon Haiyan or Typhoon Yolanda, was a massive and highly destructive storm in the North Pacific Ocean that affected Palau, the Philippines, Vietnam, and China during early November 2013. The tropical cyclone produced high winds, coastal storm surges, heavy rains, and flooding in the land areas over which it passed. By far the worst-hit region was the central Philippines, where the storm produced widespread devastation and killed thousands of people. Many considered it to be the country’s worst natural disaster. With maximum sustained winds at landfall in the Philippines that measured 195 miles (314 kilometers) per hour, Haiyan was among the most powerful tropical cyclones ever recorded, if not the most powerful, to strike land.